The Coastal Monastery of St. Sergius (Сергиева Приморская пустынь) is a

Russian Orthodox Russian Orthodoxy (russian: Русское православие) is the body of several churches within the larger communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, whose liturgy is or was traditionally conducted in Church Slavonic language. Most ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

in the coastal settlement of

Strelna Strelna ( rus, Стре́льна, p=ˈstrʲelʲnə) is a municipal settlement in Petrodvortsovy District of the federal city of Saint Petersburg, Russia, about halfway between Saint Petersburg proper and Petergof, and overlooking the shore of ...

near

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. It used to be one of the richest monasteries of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

and formerly contained seven churches as well as many

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

History

The

poustinia A hermitage most authentically refers to a place where a hermit lives in seclusion from the world, or a building or settlement where a person or a group of people lived religiously, in seclusion. Particularly as a name or part of the name of prop ...

was founded in 1734 as a branch of the great

Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius The Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius (russian: Тро́ице-Се́ргиева ла́вра) is the most important Russian monastery and the spiritual centre of the Russian Orthodox Church. The monastery is situated in the town of Sergiyev Pos ...

in the immediate vicinity of the new Russian capital, St. Petersburg.

Catherine Ivanovna Tsarevna Catherine Ivanovna of Russia (20 October 1691 – 14 June 1733) was a daughter of Tsar Ivan V and Praskovia Saltykova, eldest sister of Empress Anna of Russia and niece of Peter the Great. By her marriage, she was a Duchess of Mecklenbu ...

Peter the Great Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...

's niece, owned a manor on the bank of the

Gulf of Finland The Gulf of Finland ( fi, Suomenlahti; et, Soome laht; rus, Фи́нский зали́в, r=Finskiy zaliv, p=ˈfʲinskʲɪj zɐˈlʲif; sv, Finska viken) is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland to the north and E ...

. After her death

Empress Anna Anna Ioannovna (russian: Анна Иоанновна; ), also russified as Anna Ivanovna and sometimes anglicized as Anne, served as regent of the duchy of Courland from 1711 until 1730 and then ruled as Empress of Russia from 1730 to 1740. Much ...

presented the land to her confessor Varlaam, who was also in charge of the Trinity Lavra. Holy Trinity Cathedral (Troice-Sergieva pustyn), 1864-71

The earliest buildings of the monastery, including the pentacupolar cathedral, the outer wall and the towers, were designed by

Pietro Antonio Trezzini Pietro Antonio Trezzini (Пётр Трезин; 1692 – after 1760) was a Swiss architect from the Trezzini family who worked primarily in St. Petersburg. After several years of training in Milan, Trezzini arrived in St. Petersburg (1726), p ...

. They were

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

in character. It was not until 1764 that Strelna Monastery was designated a separate poustinia. Many monks from Strelna entered the Navy to serve as ship chaplains. Saint

Herman of Alaska Herman of Alaska ( rus, Преподобный Ге́рман Аляскинский, r=Prepodobny German Alaskinsky; 1756 – November 15, 1837) was a Russian Orthodox monk and missionary to Alaska, which was then part of Russian America. His g ...

was one of those monks. The golden age of the monastery is associated with Saint

Ignatius Bryanchaninov Saint Ignatius (secular name Dmitry Alexandrovich Brianchaninov, russian: link=no, Дмитрий Александрович Брянчанинов, ; 1807–1867) was a bishop and theologian of the Russian Orthodox Church. He stands out as one of ...

who was in charge of the poustinia between 1834 and 1857. Bryanchaninov had the monastery transformed by

Aleksey Gornostayev Alexey Maksimovich Gornostaev (russian: link=no, Алексей Максимович Горностаев; February 18, 1808 – December 18, 1862) was a Russian architect, notable as a pioneer in Russian Revival, the builder of Valaam Monastery ...

into a showcase for the

Russian Revival The Russian Revival style (historiographical names are: ''Russian style'', russian: русский стиль, ''Pseudo-Russian style'', russian: псевдорусский стиль, ''Neo-Russian style'', russian: нео-русский стил ...

style. The new Ascension Cathedral was built to a

Neo-Byzantine Neo-Byzantine architecture (also referred to as Byzantine Revival) was a revival movement, most frequently seen in religious, institutional and public buildings. It incorporates elements of the Byzantine style associated with Eastern and Orth ...

design. After the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...

the Soviets suppressed the monastery (1931), destroyed the cemetery and adapted the grounds to serve as a

labor camp A labor camp (or labour camp, see spelling differences) or work camp is a detention facility where inmates are forced to engage in penal labor as a form of punishment. Labor camps have many common aspects with slavery and with prisons (especi ...

, or a work farm. The buildings sustained further damage during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. After the property was occupied by a police school in the early 1960s, Trezzini's cathedral and several other churches were blown up. The remaining buildings were returned to the

Russian Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...

in 1993.

Burials

Some of the noblest and richest families of Imperial Russia, including the Galitzines, the

Stroganovs The Stroganovs or Strogonovs (russian: link=no, Стро́гановы, Стро́гоновы), French spelling: Stroganoff, were a family of highly successful Russian merchants, industrialists, landowners, and statesmen. From the time of Iva ...

and the

Yusupov Yusupov (russian: Юсу́пов) or Yusupova (feminine; ) is a Chechens, Chechen, Tatar and Uzbeks, Uzbek surname, which is common in the countries of the former Soviet Union. It may refer to: *House of Yusupov, royal Russian family, of Tatar desce ...

s, patronised the monastery and had their burial vaults on the grounds. The local cemetery is the burial site of a number of Russian nobles, including the

Zubov The Zubovs (russian: Зу́бов) were a Russian noble family, rose to occupy some of the highest offices of state in the 1790s, when Platon Zubov became the last favourite of Empress Catherine the Great (). The Zubovs were first noticed in ...

brothers, Prince

Alexander Gorchakov Prince Alexander Mikhailovich Gorchakov (Russian: Алекса́ндр Миха́йлович Горчако́в; 15 July 179811 March 1883) was a Russian diplomat and statesman from the Gorchakov princely family. He has an enduring reputation as ...

Duke Peter Georgievich of Oldenburg Duke Constantine Frederick Peter of Oldenburg (german: Konstantin Friedrich Peter; russian: Пётр Гео́ргиевич Ольденбу́ргский, translit=Pëtr Geórgievič Ol'denbúrgskij; – ) was a Duke of the House of Oldenburg. ...

, and court architect

Andrei Stackenschneider Andrei Ivanovich Stakenschneider (russian: Андрей Иванович Штакеншнейдер) (March 6 regorian 1802 – August 20 regorian 1865), also spelled ''Stackenschneider'' and ''Stuckenschneider'', was a Russian architect. His ecle ...

. The graves of the Dukes of Oldenburg and Leuchtenberg, both closely related to the Russian imperial family, were either lost or desecrated during the Soviet period. {{commons category, Troice-Sergieva pustyn

External links

Official website
Strelna Monasteries in Saint Petersburg 1734 establishments in Europe Russian Orthodox monasteries in Russia Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Saint Petersburg